Issa criticizes tax deal, seeks permanent breaks

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA, criticized the temporary extension of tax breaks in the tax package set to pass in the Senate, saying a failure to extend them permanently creates uncertainty for businesses.

The comments by Issa, who will chair the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the 2011-12 Congress, come a day after an important Senate procedural vote.

Lawmakers indicated Monday there was enough support - in an 83 to 15 vote - to move to a final vote on a compromise between President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans. The proposed bill would extend Bush era tax breaks for two years and extend unemployment benefits for 13 months.

The Senate's final vote on the bill could take place as soon as Tuesday. It would then move to the House.

The bill passed by the Senate is an incomplete effort that fails to create a permanent tax structure giving businesses the kind of long term predictability needed to support investment, economic growth and job creation, Issa said on Tuesday.

While saying that the proposed two-year extension avoids increases that would harm the economy the policy of institutionalizing uncertainty in our tax system could limit the pace of an economic recovery.

He said the flawed last minute consideration of the proposal underscored the need to act decisively in the coming year to support job creation, curb government spending and enact permanent tax reform.

One organization critical of the deal says the bill will add between $600 and $900 billion to the federal deficit over two years and does nothing to minimize the deficit in the medium and long term.

The critical objective is to pair any stimulus for the short-term with a credible plan to reduce the debt in the medium- and long term, Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said soon after the deal was announced last week.

We should be talking about what triggers to attach, how to pay for this new package over the decade, and what additional spending cuts and tax reforms to make. Instead lawmakers are tripping over themselves to add more deficit-financed measures to the bill, she said.

On Monday, Rep. Bill Owens, D-NY, said that while he doesn't believe that tax cuts for the ultra wealthy will create jobs and that doing so will unnecessarily add to the debt, he believes the deal is a fair compromise with significant job creation measures.

He says there is time to consider the issue later.

As we continue on the road to recovery, we will be able to revisit the tax rates for the wealthiest Americans when the economy is on stronger footing, he said.